Cellular networks have traditionally been deployed in a homogenous manner. For example, a typical cellular network may comprise a plurality of macrocells that are fairly uniform in the coverage areas they support. In the case of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks, each of these macrocells is connected to a Radio Network Controller (RNC). The RNC generally effectuates radio resource management, as well as some mobility management functionality, such as facilitating handover, maintaining device state, and supporting layer 2 data-plane protocols.
There are some exceptions to the uniform deployment paradigm described above, such as picocell and femtocell networks that are deployed in conjunction with an overarching macrocellular network. That is, picocells and femtocells, which may be considered small cellular base stations or access points, connect to a service provider's macrocellular network via broadband connections, allowing the macrocellular network to be extended either for capacity augmentation or for extending the coverage (e.g., indoors). These picocells and femtocells may be deployed in the same frequency channel as the macrocellular network, in which case they are referred to as co-channel deployments, or in a different frequency channel, in which case they are referred to as dedicated channel deployments.
For example, in-building Distributed Antenna Systems (DASs), powered by picocells, are deployed sporadically within the shadow of the macrocellular network. These picocells are typically manually provisioned to connect to the same RNC that is serving the nearby macrocells, thus facilitating mobility in and out of the coverage area of the picocell. In recent years, there has been a rapid growth of consumer femtocells, which are typically standalone entities serving a limited area. Each of these consumer femtocells is typically connected to a femtocell gateway that interfaces the femtocells with the core network of the cellular service provider.